Kherson Has Two Quiet Days Under Temporary Ceasefire

The Ukrainian city of Kherson has had two days of quiet under a temporary, US-brokered ceasefire that pauses Russian aerial attacks, according to BBC. A ceasefire is a halt to fighting agreed by the sides involved, and this one is set to end on Sunday.

The pause is tied to Oleshky, a town held by Russian forces on the opposite side of the Dnipro River from Kherson. It followed efforts by US First Lady Melania Trump to broker safe passage out of Oleshky for civilians. A local ceasefire in the town began at 03:00 on 27 October, as Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Reuters reported that the pause was intended to clear the way for humanitarian relief in Oleshky, where residents face acute shortages of food and medicine (Reuters). Earlier reporting said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to hold peace talks next month as part of the Oleshky arrangement, which was set to run for six days (Reuters). The first day and night of the pause, about 30 hours, held without incident (2News).

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said Kherson had "literally come back to life" since Tuesday. No ceasefire violations by either side have been reported since that day. Dozens of people have used the pause to reach homes and belongings in Kherson's "red zone."

Not all the news has been reassuring. Petro Andriushchenko, director of Ukraine's Center for Studying the Occupation, said local residents had reported a Russian military build-up around Radensk, about 20 kilometres from Oleshky.

An evacuation of Oleshky civilians was planned for Friday. Russian forces spent several days clearing mines from the road ahead of it. Residents of the Kherson region, or their relatives, told the BBC they feared Russia may not allow evacuees to return to Ukraine.

The temporary ceasefire is due to end on Sunday.